A CD Audio Track or .cda file is a small (44
bytes) file generated by
Microsoft Windows for each track on an
audio CD. The file contains indexing information that programs can use to play or
rip the disc. The files are given names in the format Track??.cda.The .cda files do not contain the actual
PCM wave data, but instead tell where on the disc the track starts and stops. If the file is copied from the CD-ROM to the computer, it becomes useless, since it is only a shortcut to part of the disc. However, some audio editing and CD creation programs will, from the user's perspective, load .cda files as though they are actual audio data files.
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